A BLACKPOOL boy has spurred the council into launching a campaign to make dog owners clean up after their pets.

Eleven-year-old Vaughan Olley (pictured with Coun Matthews) wrote to Blackpool Borough Council in disgust after witnessing first hand the problem of dog mess in Claremont Park when his school took part in a bulb planting session and litter pick.

Fed up with irresponsible owners' ignorance, plucky Vaughan decided to voice his opinion and wrote a letter on behalf of his classmates saying, "Please can we have some notices so that grown-ups know it is an offence to let their dogs foul the grass?"

When the letter reached Craig Matthews, executive member for community services, he was so impressed that he felt compelled to take action. "How could we possibly refuse?" he said. "In response to Vaughan's letter we installed two new dog litter bins and three new signs at the park, but decided not to stop there.

"We've taken the school up on its offer to design a flier to highlight the problem, we're holding a Canine Awareness Day in April and have invited the school to undertake a detailed survey on our behalf."

He praised the school for their display of citizenship, saying: "Vaughan and his fellow Claremont pupils deserve top marks. They're exactly the sort of children needed to run the town halls of the future."

Proud mother, Audrey, had no idea her boy had written to the council and was surprised that people thought he might pursue a career in local government.

She said: "He wants to follow in his dad's footsteps and go in the army or navy when he grows up - but he likes getting people organised."

The survey will be carried out later in the year to identify the main problem areas in Claremont park and to discover if signs and dog-litter bins could be in a better position.

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